Rika and Renamon: Termination?
by Gabriel-San
Summary: Rika's mother suspects something, and Rika's afraid of what it might mean. Is it the end for them? Last chapter up: Worse than torture and misguided therapy, a dark spectre from the past returns.
1. Termination?

Once again, I return to haunt you all with another sappy Rika and Renamon romance fic. I just can't help it. They just kinda pour out of me. Well, this one is sure to be a welcome difference from my others. Rika's mother starts figuring something is wrong, or at least happening with her little girl. She's not exactly a parent of the year but she's not completely clueless.

Warning, this is a serious Shoujo-ai, that's girls in love. If you can't take it, get some help.

Send helpful commentary to DeMachina@cs.com Flamers: At least have proper grammar. MSTers: I guess, but ask first. Regular R&R: Please do.

Rika and Renamon: Termination?

By: Gabriel

Another typical Saturday at the Nonaka house. Mikino, Rika's mother, was up and out, heading for a photo shoot. Rika's grandmother was bustling about the kitchen fixing breakfast with quite a cheerful disposition. Rika herself was fast asleep on her sleeping mat, snuggled warmly beside her lover, Renamon. Renamon kept an arm wrapped around Rika's waist, and had her tail twined warmly around Rika's bare legs, ensuring that her love would never have to feel the chill of the night. As it usually happened, they were both curled up in more or less a fetal position, Renamon because the curling came naturally to foxes, and Rika because she followed where Renamon lead when she was asleep. The warm fur was practically swallowing Rika, almost every part of her body rubbed by soft, sweetly scented fur. The intoxicating scent of sakura and apple blossoms continually rose to Rika's nose, wafting past like perfume on the wind. That was what she woke to this morning. For some reason her grandmother hadn't yet burst in, which meant Renamon could stay in her usual sleep position. For Rika it was heaven, the sweet scent filling her awakening senses, mixing with the full-body warmth and her sense of contentment into pure bliss. "I love Saturdays..." She whispered with a smile. "It doesn't get any better than this."

"You've got that right, Heartbreaker..." Renamon murmured, adding a soft chuckle. She lightly licked around the edge of Rika's ear, breathing lightly into it. "How did you sleep?" She asked, even though she knew what the answer would be.

"As always, Renamon, it was heaven..." Rika breathed, a soft gasp emerging from her lips after she spoke. "Are you sure you should do that? My grandmother could come in at any minute..."

"I'm not going to do anything. It's too lazy a morning to do all that tumbling around. Let's just lay here and enjoy it..." Renamon's hand slowly stroked over Rika's bare belly, caressing the silky skin with her smooth fur.

Rika shivered, a soft sigh emerging from her mouth. She snuggled herself more firmly against Renamon, so content she felt she could stay like this forever. "Ai shiteru..." Rika began.

"Rika! Time to get up! Breakfast is ready!" Renamon vanished the instant the first syllable was in the air, leaving Rika pressed against empty air and suddenly surrounded by chill air. She quickly wrapped herself in a blanket to hide her naked body and to reduce the chill. Renamon's scent was fading rapidly, vanishing into the swiftly moving air she was creating. By the time her grandmother had opened the door and stepped inside she looked like she had just woken up from a normal night of sleep. "Rika, did you say something before I came in?"

"No grandma. I didn't say anything." She kept her head down and her tone normal, but the look on her face was just a shade beyond annoyed.

"It's so strange. Sometimes when I'm around I get the feeling that there's someone else in the room. But of course, that's just silly. I mean, it's not like you'd have a boy in here or anything."

Rika smiled a little, seeing an opening and taking it. "Trust me grandma. There have not been, nor ever will be boys in this room. I promise."

"Well, that's very responsible of you. Come get your breakfast. Just because it's Saturday doesn't mean you can get away with not eating." As she walked away she was muttering to herself. "That girl's better than her mother at least. Knows not to have boys in her room. Wish Mikino could have been the same way. That girl loved boys too much..."

"Very smooth." Renamon commented after Rika's grandmother had gone far enough away to prevent her from hearing anything.

"And very honest." Rika said, standing up and stretching a little bit. Renamon wrapped her tail around Rika's midsection to keep her belly and chest warm while the girl went around to get herself dressed. "I'll never have some disgusting human boy in here unless he forces his way in. You're all I need, Renamon." Rika slipped her broken-heart shirt onto her and shivered as Renamon's tail slid down her body to wrap around her hips. She gave another little shiver after she slipped on her underwear and pants, as Renamon's tail slipped slowly away from her body. Rika gave her girlfriend a quick hug and left to get breakfast, before her grandmother came back to remind her again.

Later on that day Rika and Renamon were sitting outside of Rika's room, snuggled against each other and quietly talking. "I wonder..." Rika mused softly.

"Wonder what, Heartbreaker?" Renamon looked deeply into Rika's eyes, because Rika was usually more inclined to reveal things when Renamon did that.

"I wonder... how my family would react to this..." Rika closed her eyes and a soft blush colored her cheeks. "I mean, you're the biggest, most important part of my life. I'd love to tell the world, but I think my mother and grandmother should be the first. I can't imagine something more essential for them to know than how I feel about you."

Renamon softly cupped Rika's face in her hands and stroked her cheeks tenderly. "If you ever decided to tell I'd be right there with you, and would proudly introduce myself as your love, and say that you are my world. I'm always willing, Heartbreaker. I love you..."

"Rika?" Renamon vanished as soon as she heard the voice, and Rika straightened up, almost falling forward when Renamon disappeared. Rika's mother appeared from around the corner, looking somewhat concerned. "Who's out here with you?" She looked around quickly, eyes seeking any sign of another person.

"No one is out here with me, mother. Just ask grandma. No one but me has been in the house today." Rika sat calmly and confidently, certain she could just explain away anything. Sure, she'd tell her family, but not at that moment. And certainly not her mother alone.

"But I'm sure I heard someone talking to you. It sounded like a girl..." She didn't say anything else, watching Rika's expression carefully.

Rika expression never budged an inch. "You must have been mistaken. There's no one here, and no one has been here." Rika kept her eyes on her mother's, not blinking, nor looking away. It was a look she'd practiced well, and a look she'd given several times. No sense being unprepared in such a situation.

Rika's mother studied the unmoving face her daughter presented and searched for one crack in the facade. But there was nothing. "Sorry I bothered you..." She turned away and started to walk but took a quick look back at Rika. Nothing had moved. So she walked away for real, shaking her head as she entered the house. "I know I heard something. It was a girl. And she said 'I love you' to my little girl. Something's going on here and I intend to find out what's going on."

Meanwhile, Rika sat determined and unmoving until Renamon softly ran her hands over Rika's arms. "It's ok. She's gone."

"Sometimes I just can't stand her."

"I thought you said you were going to tell your family about us."

"I will. But not her first. That would just ruin my life. I think Grandma is mature and open enough to understand."

Renamon embraced Rika tightly. "Just tell me when and where, and I'll be there, Heartbreaker. You can count on it."

Monday. School day. Rika sat in class, disinterested and staring out the window. She didn't care if the teacher saw her; she already knew what was being taught. Times like these flooded her mind with thoughts of Renamon, who was infinitely more interesting than school, and a lot more friendly. Suddenly, a little note dropped onto her desk, startling her out of her daydreams. It was a plain piece of notebook paper, carefully folded into a heart and then torn slightly on the indented point. The familiar handwriting on it said, "Heartbreaker." Rika looked around quickly with a bit of a smile before unfolding the note and reading it.

"Dearest Heartbreaker,

You look so bored there, like it's all old news to you. What are you thinking of? Maybe me? I certainly hope so, as egotistical as that sounds. I'm always thinking about you, my life, my sweetness. Forever yours, Rena." A tiny heart rested beside the signature, as well as two linked female symbols. Another note dropped as soon as Rika finished reading the first. This one said, "PS:

If you want to write back just write up the note and toss it up. I'll catch it. Rena." Again the hearts and linked female symbols. Rika looked around at the rest of the class. Everyone who wasn't paying extreme attention was off in their own little world. Rika smiled slyly and started writing down her own little note.

"Dear Renamon,

I am bored. Amazingly bored. And it is indeed true, I am thinking of you when I stare into nothingness. Sometimes I swear I can see you in the shadows of the room or the shimmer of sunlight out on the grass. Whenever the glass glitters I think it's you dancing. I hope I don't bore you with my inactivity. Always yours, Rika." She doodled a little broken heart beside that, folded up the paper, and tossed it into the air. She watched it twirl for a moment before a streak appeared in the air above her and the note vanished. "So that's how she does it..." Rika thought with a grin. "Clever."

Rika continued to look up at the ceiling, waiting for the streak to appear again. It did, and from it a note fell. Rika managed to catch this one, noting it was folded in exactly the same way, with the rip in the exact same place. Rika eagerly opened up this one, reading it as soon as she could make out the words clearly.

"Dearest Heartbreaker,

It's so sweet of you to say all those things. I can't help but see you all the time. I am always by your side, always near you, because I never want to see you hurt. I am never bored, because I am always imagining what we could be doing, making plans for our happy future together, be it in half a century, or just after school is over. I think I have a few good ideas for later. Just wait until you see. Forever devoted, Rena." Rika smiled at the note, but didn't write another one. She didn't have to. All she had to do was last until the end of school.

"Grandma?" Later on that day. Rika was in her house, cautiously entering the kitchen where her grandmother stood, making dinner. After she'd gotten home and dropped her school things off at her room, she stood at the edge of the koi pond, in indecision. She just knew that she'd have to tell someone sooner or later. She really had only one option, but had just been putting it off and putting it off. Now she couldn't put it off any longer. So there she was, standing in front of her grandmother.

"Yes Rika?" Her grandmother looked up from what she was doing, smiling brightly. Rika was frozen. She couldn't do it. There was no way. Even in the most perfect happy mood...

"I... I..." She stammered, screaming at herself for her weakness, weakness she had never known before. "Do it!" Her inner voice cried. "Do it now, before you lose your nerve." But it was too later. She just couldn't do it. "I... might miss dinner. I have to go and... help someone with some school work."

"Oh... well, I suppose that's alright. If it's for school, go ahead. I'll leave some for you so you can heat it up later." Rika's grandmother smiled at her granddaughter, so trusting. Rika just wanted to escape.

"Thanks Grandma. I think I'd better get going." Rika turned and ran out of the kitchen, pursued by her own thoughts. "Liar!" Her mind screamed at her. "You lied, and you were a coward!" She couldn't escape herself, couldn't keep from hearing the words. She ran from the house, not caring that she'd left her school things in her room.

"Rika?" At almost the same moment Rika was running away from her own fear, her mother was entering her room. She'd knocked, of course, but hardly waited for a reply. She just slid open the door and walked right in. She found the room exactly as Rika had left it that morning, neat and tidy, with everything carefully placed where it belonged. Rika's mother had no idea what to look for, or where. She only knew that she had to. She HAD heard a girl's voice that day when Rika'd said she hadn't. She'd heard that voice say "I love you" right to Rika. There was no mistaking it. Now she just needed some sign, some indication that she was right in thinking that. No other parent would fault her for what she was doing. Opening drawers and checking under clothes, searching for something. She might even find other things Rika was hiding. Drugs, cigarettes, condoms, weapons, something that she'd heard other kids had gotten into. But all she managed to find was that her daughter was very neat and tidy.

Then she noticed Rika's backpack sitting innocently on her sleeping mat. Why anything incriminating would be in her daughter's backpack was unimportant. It was something to search. To ease her mind she had to look, at least a little, to make sure that all was really right with the world. She opened the pack carefully, digging through the neatly ordered layers of paper. Nothing to see. Nothing to see. Nothing... She slowly withdrew her hand from the pack, trembling a little as she looked at what came out with it. Three notes, folded into heart shapes, with a tear in the top. "Just some notes from a boy..." She said quietly to the emptiness of the room, as though speaking it would make it real, like some magic spell. But the magic faded when her trembling fingers opened the notes one by one.

"Dearest Heartbreaker..." she whispered, barely a breath of sound. Her lips moved as she read the first note, but no sound emerged. None could. It was just too much. In those few simple lines, all her hopes of a rational explanation evaporated like the morning dew. "Forever yours..." she mouthed. "Rena..." her heart sank. Her eyes crossed the drawings beside the signature, over and over as though she could erase them, or burn them away. She had enough fire in her to burn them. Her daughter, so uncommunicative, so cold, so distant. A lesbian. And so young. It was unthinkable. But it was undeniably true. The proof was there in black and white. All she could do now was kneel there, in the middle of her daughter's room, a room she had just searched, and weep.

Rika, meanwhile, had run to the park on instinct. She always went there when she had a problem. And she certainly had one now. Her internal voice had stopped yelling at her. All was quiet within her mind. But throughout her entire body she felt heavy, cold, and sick. Everything was wrong. She'd planned so carefully, and ended up failing anyway. She just froze a moment before she was to speak. Her own body had betrayed her.

"Heartbreaker?" As usual, Renamon appeared beside her, never too far away no matter what happened. "What happened? You looked like you were so close."

"I-I couldn't. I just couldn't. It seemed so simple when I thought about it. But when I actually went to do it... I got so afraid." Rika lowered her head a bit and lifted a hand to her face to lightly touch at her tears.

Before the hand even got there Renamon had stepped up to her and wrapped Rika with her arms and tail, what she always did to comfort and console Rika. "Why were you afraid? You know I'm always there for you."

Rika shook her head, still crying. "It wouldn't have helped. This time you wouldn't have been able to protect me."

"Heartbreaker, what were you so afraid of? You know I'm strong enough to protect you from anything..."

"No! No!" Rika started to thrash about and Renamon let her go, stepping away from the girl. "This is different. Digimon are one matter. You're strong and skilled. You can destroy a thousand and still be fine. But you can't do anything about my family. They can't just be destroyed and swept away. They'll always be there, and as much as I hate to say it, they will always affect me. And telling them about you... It scares me. Because they might... panic, might try to get rid of you. Call some shelter to take you away, or some exterminator to have you killed. I can't lose you. I've given you my heart, fragile as glass. If they were to hurt you, my heart would break. If I lost you, I'd never have any hope again. Without you, there would be no happiness..." Rika slumped down into a sitting position, crying into her hands. Renamon padded over and wrapped her arms around the robbing girl. "Without you, I'd have no reason to live..."

"So all of this... is about me?" Renamon brought her head down to the level of Rika's face, softly removing her hands from the Girl's face and seeing the shimmer of tears. "These tears are for me? Not for you and what it might do to you?"

"Don't you know? It's always about you. I can take care of myself. But I worry about you all the time."

Renamon smiled, leaning in to kiss Rika's cheek. "And in my mind, it's always about you. I admit it. I've been scared too. I thought of all the terrible things that could happen to you. And simply because of the danger I'd have to watch from the shadows as usual, see you hurt, physically and emotionally. There are so many things that could happen. But heartbreaker, you have to take the risk. I've never known you to be afraid of anything. You faced down everything you've ever come across, you stood up to Harpymon for my sake, you've always been strong. You have to be strong now. For me. I swear to you that I will be alright. You just have to do this, Heartbreaker. I believe that you can. And don't worry about your heart. You can be certain it is safe with me. Just as I am certain that mine is safe with you."

Rika smiled a tiny smile at Renamon, giving her a kiss on her cheek in return. "I will, Renamon. I'll go back to the house, and I'll do it. Just don't leave me."

"I'll be right there behind you. I'll introduce myself, answer everything, and make sure it all works out."

"That's why I love you, Renamon. You're so willing to do anything for me."

"That's funny, Heartbreaker. That's the same reason that I love you..."

"Grandma, I have something I need to tell you. It might be hard to hear, but believe me, it's harder to tell." Rika was kneeling in her Grandmother's room, feeling Renamon's eyes on her face, encouraging her to go on.

"Go ahead Rika. You know you can always tell me anything."

"For the past few months, I have been in love with someone. Someone very special. This person has meant the world to me, but I never introduced them to you or mother, because I was afraid. Afraid of many, many things."

Rika's grandmother looked down at the ground for a moment. "It's a girl, isn't it?"

Not a flinch, nor a look of shock. "Yes. It is. How did you know?"

"Your mother's been convinced that she heard a girl saying that she loved you. I tried to convince her that she was hearing things, but I wondered if it was true. I thought, though, that if it was true, there was nothing wrong with it."

"There's another reason I've never introduced her to you and mother. It's a very strange reason, and it's somewhat difficult to even talk about, because there's so many things to explain."

"Just do your best, Rika. I might be old, but I can understand a lot of things."

"I think she should explain everything herself. Please, try not to be shocked. Renamon, it's time."

Renamon slowly walked into the room, bowing deeply to Rika's grandmother as soon as she entered. "Greetings. My name is Renamon. I am a Digimon. I came here from a place called the Digital world, a world that exists in the data stream. I chose Rika as a human partner because she was strong. Her strength drew me here. As I lived and experienced life in the human world, I cam to admire, and then love Rika, though I simply could not tell her. Until Rika proved her love for me, even thought she could not express it with words.

"Right now we are both very afraid that something bad will happen from this admission. I am afraid that Rika will be hurt, and Rika is afraid that I will be destroyed. I truly hope that everything will be fine, but if it isn't, please don't hurt her. Her fear is bad enough."

Rika's grandmother looked down again, for a long time. She had her eyes closed but Rika could see she was breathing. When she looked up again she stared straight into Renamon's eyes. "Do you love my granddaughter?"

Renamon nodded, eyes never leaving Rika's grandmother's. "I do indeed. Very much."

"Would you ever hurt her?"

"I have sworn many times that I never will. I have her heart, and she has mine. Without each other we would be worthless."

"Would you die for her?"

"Many times I almost have. It is my duty to protect her from dangers that emerge from the Digital world. But it's not important that I would die for her. What I think is most important is that I live for her."

"Rika? How do you feel?"

"I feel the same as Renamon. I love her with all my heart. I would never do anything to harm her. I was willing to die for her once. And I too live for her. There's nothing that could pull us apart."

Rika's grandmother looked at the two of them, sweeping her gaze over one and then the other. "I've been around for a good amount of time. I've seen a lot of things in my time, good and bad. I don't know much about this new world and this Digital world, or anything like that. But I do know about love. I know about honest, genuine, sweet love. And what I see here, is the most honest love I've seen in a long, long time. You might both be women, and you might be some creature from another world, but what there is between you is a beautiful thing. Don't ever lose whatever it is that keeps you like this. Freeze this moment in time and never let it go. Ever."

That moment, Rika's mother decided to come in with her discovery. "Look what I found in Rika's bag! Love notes from a... girl..." She looked around at the assembled group, her eyes lingering on Renamon. "What's going on here?"

"I was just meeting the most important person in your daughter's life. The one who loves her, and will love her for all her life. This is... Renamon, I believe."

"That's right. My name is Renamon. I am a Digimon from the..." but Renamon didn't need to say any more. Rika's mother fainted right where she stood.

"That girl never could take to new ideas very well." Rika's grandmother observed.

~Owari


	2. One simple wish...

At the request of many fans, I've decided to make a chaptered thing out of this single story. I might even finish off my series with this, but that's still up in the air. You can expect, as always, to find a lot of sappy Shoujo-ai in this. It's just what I do.

I own none of the characters used in this story, and am merely using them for entertainment purposes. No money has changed hands at all.

Rika and Renamon: Termination?

Chapter 2: One simple wish

By: Gabriel

Time crawled slowly in that room, as Rika's mother Mikino lay sprawled out on the floor, still holding Renamon's love notes to Rika that she'd discovered in Rika's backpack. Rika, Renamon, and Rika's grandmother sat around in Rika's grandmother's room, making small talk and learning more about each other and the events of the last several months. After a while none of them really noticed Mikino still lying on the ground. Eventually, though, she did get up from her faint and the others noticed her then.

"That was a very immature reaction of you, Mikino. Fainting at the sight of your daughter's girlfriend. And what was that you were saying about finding notes in her backpack? Hove you been searching Rika's room?" Grandma glared at Mikino, a withering gaze indeed.

"I-I was just checking her room. She's been so cold and distant. I thought she was involved with something illegal. I was looking for drugs, or booze, or weapons. Something I could handle. Not love letters from some freakish modern day Kitsune trying to steal my little girl!" Mikino pointed a finger at Renamon, nearly touching her on the nose with her well-manicured nail.

"Oh Mikino grow up! You're such a child. I blame all that modeling. Honestly, a grown woman believing in something as childish as the Kitsune."

"What else would you call her, mother? Tempting my little girl with sex and power."

"I have never tempted her with power!" Renamon interjected.

"And what makes you think I need any tempting, when I'm already in love?" Rika added.

"You mean that you..? With her?" Mikino looked between Rika and Renamon, panicked.

"There's nothing wrong with it. We talked about a lot of things while you were out. It's amazing what goes on around us without our being aware."

"Nothing wrong with it? Mother, this is your granddaughter you're talking about here! How can you just sit here and calmly talk with this... thing?"

"Mikino, please. She is a Digimon. And her name is Renamon. Honestly, you are just so out of touch. I think we should tell her about all this, so she can get some clue. Sit down here with us, Mikino. You've got a lot to learn about the world."

Mikino looked around at the small group and slowly walked over to the table with them and sat down at it. "Ok, exactly what is it that I should know."

"Well mother you should know about what Renamon actually is."

"That is correct. I am a Digimon. An artificial life program that spread into the data stream of the Internet and evolved into a variety of different types. Digimon can emerge into the human world by synthesizing all the materials necessary to form a body and then place their data into it. I came into this world because Rika's strength and skill drew me. I wanted the greatest tamer in the entire world and I knew that she was it."

"It's all so very fascinating. The Internet is such an interesting thing. Computers all over the world connected to each other, so that people across the globe can share ideas, pictures, stories, anything. And flowing along with all that are these remarkable creatures. It's amazing when you really think about it." Grandma smiled a little and looked wistful. For such a thing to happen in someone's life. And to learn about it so clearly. Simply good luck.

Mikino looked hard at Renamon, angered at her placid sitting and calm voice. "So you came to this world just to seduce my little girl?"

"Why do you keep assuming that? At first our relationship was purely platonic..."

"No it wasn't, Renamon. It was worse than that. As ashamed as I am to say it, I was terrible. I treated her like a thing and not a living being. I forced her to fight to fulfill my own desires. I was proud when she won, proud of me. I was selfish, egotistical..."

Renamon placed her hand on Rika's head, stroking softly. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Heartbreaker. You couldn't have known..."

Rika shook her head a little. "I admit it. I was terrible. Even when you finally Digivolved for me..."

"Digivolved?" Mikino asked.

"That's when a Digimon changes its form, becoming more powerful." Grandma answered. "I paid very close attention to them while they were explaining. I like to think I'm still sharp enough to pick up on new things."

"Even when she finally Digivolved, I was proud of myself. But at that moment I also felt something strange within me. She almost died trying to protect me, and my wanting her to live, my tender, warm emotions and my acknowledgement of her actually being alive, made her Digivolve. I also began to wonder about why she stayed so close to me. I was terrible to her. I was cold, harsh, and insensitive. And yet she stayed around. It never made any sense. But that sentiment touched me in a way I never realized. Because I started to fall in love with her. But I was afraid of getting close. Afraid that she thought badly of me. Afraid she would reject me. For someone who thought she was strong, I was afraid of a lot. But I shouldn't even be saying any of this. It was much, much worse for Renamon. She suffered because of my selfishness." Rika leaned against Renamon, who wrapped her arms lovingly around her.

"Take your hands off of my daughter!" Mikino screamed, reaching for the two of them.

"Mikino! Enough. Be quiet and listen to them. This is very important. If you really care for Rika as much as you say you do then you should be willing to hear about the most important person in her life, and how that came to be." Grandma would take no crap from her daughter this time. This was important.

"I'll admit, it was rather hard dealing with my Heartbreaker's..." Renamon began.

"Why do you keep referring to her as "Heartbreaker"?" Mikino asked.

"It's a cute term of endearment. I think it's rather lovely." Grandma commented.

"As I was saying, it was a little hard dealing with my Heartbreaker's coldness toward me. At first I thought that that was how it was between humans. But then I discovered that it was not. I rationalized that it was all in the interest of making me Digivolve. But once I did that, it didn't stop. If anything it seemed to get worse and worse. I felt as though I was doing something wrong. I felt unworthy, and very hurt. But in all that time I never felt like saying anything or leaving her. I only left when she pushed me away, and even then I stayed close by. When she came to my aid against Harpymon, and defended me at risk to her own life, I realized that deep down inside she really cared about me. Maybe even loved me. And as you can see, I was certainly right in that respect." Renamon placed her head on Rika's and nuzzled it softly.

"So... how long have you been... involved?" Mikino, shamed by her mother, was more docile now, but was clearly not happy.

"It seems like forever sometimes. Renamon has just completed my life so well. I finally found the one piece missing from my life. The last thing that I needed to really be happy. Someone I could really relate to and who understood me. And what's better, someone who would love me for me, and put up with me though my moods and attitudes." Rika closed her eyes lightly and leaned against Renamon, stroking her fingers through her plush chestruff.

"It just seems natural that we be together. I can't imagine being separated from her for a moment, I really can't. As you saw, even in school I write her notes because she looks so bored there I just have to cheer her up..."

"Ah-HA! You're making Rika fail school!" Mikino was grasping at straws; her ideas about what Renamon was and what she was doing were crumbling like broken pottery.

"Oh honestly mother, I have the highest grade in my class. I hardly pay attention and I still get good grades on tests. School is boring. If I didn't have to go I'd spend my time playing the Digimon card game and being with Renamon."

"Have you ever molested my daughter?"

"Mikino! Now that's enough! Renamon has done no such thing. While she has had relations with Rika, they were not anything abusive or harsh. I believe you said the very first time was mutually agreed upon." Grandma had a level head and just loved putting Mikino in her place, having suppressed the urge to do so when Mikino was trying to turn Rika into a vacuous air headed model like herself.

"That is correct." Renamon replied. "I remember it so well. It was a week after we had each confessed our love and shared our first kiss. We were lying against each other, warm and content. Rika was the one who inquired about it, and I admitted that I was curious about it. That night was simply magical. There were no interruptions at all, and, although we were both so very unsure and clumsy, it was the sweetest, most passionate thing in the world."

"It's hard to put into words what it feels like when your first time is experience upon a bedding of the warmest, softest fur you've ever felt." Rika blushed softly and snuggled warmly against Renamon, working her fingers into her fur.

"See Mikino? Nothing dangerous or terrible about it. It's all very sweet and tender. It's too bad you were unconscious during the entire discussion we had. You could have learned a lot, and you could have avoided embarrassment by learning that things aren't the way you think they are."

"Mother how can you be so calm? Rika is in love with another girl! A woman in fact. I think... And she's not even human! My only child is a lesbian, at such a young age. And you're not even getting miffed."

"Why should I? Would you prefer her dating older boys, staying out until all hours and making you grandchildren before you're old enough to look it? Is that what you want?"

"No! I just want her to be normal."

"That was normal for you, except for the child part. At least you waited for a little bit with that. I'll still never know how you managed, seeing as how I found boys in your room almost twice a week."

"Mother, really, this is neither the time nor the place to discuss something like that."

"Oh but that's where you're wrong. This is the perfect time and place. As long as you're trying to shame Rika and Renamon, while claiming some kind of moral high ground, it's important to keep in mind just what kind of ground you're on."

"Please, Ms. Nonaka. I would like you to understand that I really do adore your daughter with all my heart, and I am not the type to make such oaths lightly. But if you cannot understand, that is your own choice. You can feel however you want, but you have no right to tell Rika who she can and cannot be in love with." Renamon held Rika protectively, stroking the girl's hair.

"She's got a point Mikino. Rika is your daughter, not you plaything. If she's in love, then she's in love. If you don't like it, then you can just not see her. But I will not reject her, or my new granddaughter-in-law." Grandma smiled a little. "It sounds so funny to say it, but it's a nice thought."

"You're simply hopeless mother." Rika commented with a sniff. "I think you're the only one in this room who has any negative comments at all about my relationship with Renamon."

"I'm certainly entitled to my opinions." Mikino said simply.

"That's true, you are. However, you cannot use those opinions as law to dominate your daughter and her relationship. You may express your dissatisfaction, but you can't do anything about it. And now that I know, I promise you I'll keep these two from your intolerance." Grandma looked really determined.

Mikino lifted her hands and held them in front of her in a gesture of calming. "Ok, ok. You win. I'll try to be a little more tolerant of... fox... thing... mon."

"Renamon, mother. Re-na-mon." Rika enunciated for the benefit of her mother.

"Renamon. Right. Whatever. I won't be a pain or anything like that. I'll just let you do your thing. Just try not to do it where someone might see you." With that Mikino stood up and made her way out of the room, not looking back at any of them.

"That was easier than I thought. Looks like everything is going to be alright." Rika said, leaning against Renamon.

"I don't think it's over, Rika. Mikino might be a ditz, but she's very headstrong. I can't help but winder what she's planning." Grandma quietly said, looking out the door of her room as though Mikino was still there.

"That's right, just one." A week later Mikino was still putting up with Rika and Renamon's relationship, but it was driving her crazy that she could do nothing about it. Every hind she dropped was ignored or rejected. Every time Mikino mentioned nice boys Rika would always comment that they seemed too young for Mikino. Now she was desperate enough to do anything that could help. No matter what it might be. "I understand. I can pay for a full year if that's what it will take." She'd thought of many, many different things, trying to puzzle out the perfect way to separate the two of them and then fix each one. But with her mother eyeing her like a hawk, Mikino had to tread lightly, and only worked on her ideas in her spare time. "Do anything you want, just don't injure her. I realize that's rather hard, but please keep that in mind. I don't want her hurt." She'd finally worked out a way to take care of both of them, and it was so simple.

Taking care of Rika wouldn't be a problem. The answer was as close as the nearest phonebook. A little searching and she'd found what she needed. Renamon was another problem. It seemed as though there was no solution, until one day she was alone in the park. She was sitting on a bench staring at the ground, trying to think of what he could do. Then a shadow had moved itself to over hers and she could feel someone there. She lifted her head to find a blond man in a dark suit. He was wearing sunglasses and clicking a lighter open and closed.

"Ms. Nonaka?"

Mikino had almost not responded but something about him just made her want to answer. "Yes."

"Your daughter's name is Rika, is it not?"

"Yes it is."

"Your daughter is involved in a very dangerous game. Dangerous to her and all of humanity. She refuses to see, but I'm sure you do."

Mikino wasn't sure what this man really meant, but what he said certainly made sense. "She just won't listen to me. She refuses to just drop all this nonsense and move on. My mother is no help; she just encourages Rika in this."

"Well, if you ever feel that you need some help with this problem, just call this number. Ask for the name on the card." He'd handed her a card and while she was looking down to read it the man had vanished.

Mikino returned her thoughts to the conversation she was involved with. "Come and get her this Sunday night, after sunset. I'll leave the front door open. Don't think twice about anything you see. Thank you. Good bye." Mikino placed the phone back for just a moment while she retrieved the card, which she had looked at a thousand times. She kept it in front of her as she dialed the number, though she had memorized almost as soon as she had gotten it. It only rang twice before she was greeted by a flat female voice. Mikino looked over the card again, which lay atop a timetable she'd drawn up. "Let me speak to Yamaki please..."

Sunday night had finally come. It seemed like an average, ordinary Sunday. Mikino, Rika, Grandma and Renamon were around the table, eating dinner. Rika and Grandma were talking animatedly about new things they planned to do with the computer once they got the money. Renamon occasionally chipped in with advice about something they spoke about. Mikino just ate in silence and watched the clock as it ticked away towards fate.

"Why so quiet tonight, Mikino? You're not usually this silent." Grandma looked up from her bowl of rice and snapper.

"Yea, usually you'd at least mention young boys you've seen, or talk about some obscure and questionable "fact" about lesbians." Rika added, taking a biter of her cucumber roll.

Renamon quietly slurped down a bowl of miso soup, not as much of a pig as Gillmon, but still needing to eat. Something didn't feel right, but she couldn't say so without any concrete evidence. Feelings count for little at times. There was just something about the way Mikino looked at the clock, and how she seemed so anxious.

Mikino smiled a smile that looked real, but hid a little nervousness behind it. "What can I say? It's just a quiet night."

The meal went on without incident for a little while longer. Then the front door fairly burst open, giving entrance to two rather large men in white coats. They hardly looked around at all, but instead went right for Rika, grabbing her arms and starting to haul her away.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Grandma screamed, standing up immediately.

"Put her down now or you'll deal with me!" Renamon screamed, leaping up onto the table and assuming a fighting stance.

"Sorry lady, we got orders to do this." One of the men said, both of them continuing to drag a struggling Rika away.

"Renamon!" Rika gave a mighty twist of her body, trying to escape from the clutches of the men, but she halted as she saw someone familiar standing in the front door. "You! This is your doing!"

Yamaki just smiled a cold little smile. "No, I'm afraid not. I'm not here for you. I'm here for your Digimon."

"Renamon! Run!" Rika continued to squirm and struggle, but was no match for the men dragging her away.

"Mikino what have you done?" Grandma screamed at her daughter, as a quiet dinner became chaos.

"I had to do it, mother. I couldn't let my little girl end up like that. She's just being taken to a deprogramming center. They'll remove her sick lust for women. As for that thing, I'm having her taken away. That man over there is some kind of Digimon expert, he'll take care of the kitsune." Mikino seemed calm, too calm. She was acting like nothing was happening.

Renamon was holding back, waiting for an opening to strike when she wouldn't hurt Rika. She heard Rika scream for her to run, but she did not. She had sworn to defend her, and would. But before she could, she felt a sharp, burning pain in her side, and she dropped to one knee. Beside her was a lab-coated young man holding a cattle prod. On the other side of Renamon was another. This time they both jabbed her in the sides, forcing her down flat.

"This is madness Mikino. You've finally lost it!" Grandma grabbed her daughter by the shoulders, but she just retained her same expression.

"You just don't understand mother. It's all for Rika's own good."

Rika was dragged away to an unmarked van and tossed into the back, where she was quickly locked in. She screamed and struggled with the door for a while before she finally gave up and lay back against one of the walls, looking up through a window at the stars.

Renamon was also dragged away to a van, a plain white one. She was thrown into a cage in the back, stunned and barely able to move. She turned her head a little bit to look out through the links of the cage to the window, through which she could see the stars she loved so much.

Rika started crying as the van began to move, taking her away from her home and her love.

Renamon lightly began to cry, stirring more and more as she got over the shocks.

As the vans drove on into the night, away from each other, both Rika and Renamon began to whisper, thinking the same thought. "I wish so dearly..." They each whispered.

"I wish that Rika would be safe." Renamon quietly said to the stars, even as she heard Yamaki telling her of his plans to destroy her.

"I wish that Renamon would be safe." Rika silently wished, even as one of the men explained she would be deprogrammed according to her mother's wishes.

Back at the house, Mikino was calmly cleaning up the house, acting as though everything was fine and dandy. Grandma, however, had gone back to her room, devastated. In a matter of minutes life had altered itself from a peaceful normalcy that had seemed to exist longer than the week and a half it had. She knelt at her low table, staring out of her window into the night. What had Rika said? "Night is special. It was the only thing that had known about us." She shook her head a little bit. "I wish that they will both be alright, and will be reunited in love..."

~Owari~


	3. Trial by firewall

Sorry to leave everyone on a cliffhanger, but I needed a good place to end that last story, and where I had it just seemed to fit right. I certainly hope this makes up for it. The ending will resolve a few things and could very possibly finish off my series. I'm still not entirely certain.

Digimon and related characters copyright someone else, except for Angstmon, and Gothicmon. I make no claims of ownership except on the aforementioned characters, and am making no money on this.

What do you think of all this lovely WaFFy stuff? Tell me at DeMachina@cs.com Flamers: Don't bother. MSTers: Please don't. Regular R&R: Always a pleasure.

Rika and Renamon: Termination?

Chapter 3: Trial by Firewall

By: Gabriel

"Now tell me, Miss Nonaka, what do you think the root of this unnatural passion is?" The room was made to appear nice. Wood paneled, tastefully decorated with imitation Victorian furniture, plenty of natural light from the two large windows in it. The entire thing looked like a colorization of a photograph of Sigmund Freud's office. In fact, the man asking the question looked a little like Sigmund Freud, he was dressed for the part, and he had the beard and glasses down. However, the one lying on the couch near him was nothing like you'd expect to see on a couch in Victorian era Austria. It was Rika Nonaka, stripped of her usual blue jeans and broken heart t-shirt. She was wearing instead a very plain institutional gray jumpsuit, with soft gray shoes that were more cloth than anything else. Her hair had been taken down from it's usual spiked look and was now laying long and tangled, against the couch, in mockery of the long and perfect hair her mother had always wished on her. With her clothing and her hairstyle torn away from her, she hardly looked like herself. But something in the way she set her face, and the look in her icy eyes still spoke of the old Rika Nonaka, the Digimon Queen.

"First of all, I'd hardly call it unnatural. It's what I know, and I know it well. It's my life, not something for you to meddle in. Secondly, I really really doubt that you're supposed to ask something like that. Are you even licensed to be a therapist or are you a quack they picked up being kicked out of a University?" Rika smiled a little in satisfaction. She was so powerless that any act of rebellion gave her pleasure. It had only been a few days, but the order was so structured even her arrival didn't disrupt it. The rigidity was far too much for someone so used to freedom, so she started to reject it all at the very moment she learned of her fate.

The therapist sighed softly and shook his head at Rika, taking down a few more notes. "Miss Nonaka, I really feel that you are not making the best use of this time. Your mother spent lots of good money, is still spending..." He began.

"Let her spend it! Let her spend it all! Let her give you every last penny until she's broke and homeless. She had no right to have me kidnapped in the middle of dinner and dragged off to this... prison!" Rika hit the couch with her fists and stood straight up in it, fury tinting her face.

"That's not a very healthy attitude. Your mother was just concerned about you and this troublesome experimentation with homosexuality you were engaging in." He gave no validation of her feelings, no nod to emotion. It was all very clinical.

Rika would not have it. "It wasn't an experiment, it was my life. It was what I felt inside, like a warmth. I was a better person for it..." Rika softened a little, her mind drifting far away and what seemed like long ago, back to a time when Renamon had melted her icy heart, and shown her what happiness was. Living in that world had been hard at times, but it had also held such richness that it seemed a shame to return to reality. "I still am... Thanks to..."

The therapist leaned forward in his chair, about as excited as he would get over a single patient. "Yes? Thanks to whom? Who was the one who recruited you to this?"

The cold slap of the therapist's words were what brought Rika back into reality. "I wasn't recruited into anything. I followed my heart there. Hasn't it been an hour yet?"

"It certainly has. Well, I must say we made a bit of progress this time. Maybe tomorrow you'll feel like admitting whom it was that converted you to this perversion."

"Yea, sure. As soon as Hell freezes over." Rika gave a dismissive wave in the face of the therapist before walking out the door, where a guard escorted her back into her plain stone room. Nothing in there but a bed and a change of clothes. "Renamon will get me out of this soon, I just know it. I wish they'd let me keep my Digivice. I could tell how close she is. If she's still there. Damn that guy, whoever he is. He couldn't possibly have any way to destroy Renamon. She's just too strong. I hope..."

Renamon opened her eyes slowly, pained by that simple little action. How long had it been? She was drifting in and out of consciousness so often it was hard to tell when a day began and ended. Surely it hadn't been that long. There was no way this guy would leave her alive for too long. "Speak of the devil..." Renamon thought as Yamaki walked up to the glass tube she was being held in.

"Awake now, are we? You certainly do enjoy taking naps." Yamaki grinned at Renamon, a smug and superior look indeed.

"Why am I being kept here? I thought you killed all Digimon." Renamon had hardly the strength to sneer at Yamaki, but she gave him a very dark look.

"It's my job to learn more about you pests, that way I can destroy you more easily. Right now I've got tests being run on you. You're strong, and yet you let yourself be led. It's illogical. I could take whatever it is that makes you a follower and use that to infect the rest of the Digimon, creating submissive pets; or I could just kill you slowly, running so many tests you finally just get deleted, and then I'll figure out what killed you and do it to the rest of the Digimon. In either case, all you creatures are doomed." Yamaki smiled and turned himself away from the glass tube. "Oh yes... I'm also keeping you around so you can suffer as long as possible. It's bad enough that you creatures are emerging into our world, but you go too far when you start getting involved with humans, taking them away from others. You will pay for your intimacy with your slow suffering. Enjoy..." With that Yamaki walked away, back into the main area of Hypnos.

Renamon lowered her head to rest it against her chestruff, body stiff and sore from confinement. "He's a monster..." She thought. "Because I love Rika he's going to torture me, and then delete me. I cannot allow that. I have to rescue Rika from that place her mother sent her."

"You'll never escape. You're too weak..." A quiet voice, emanating from everywhere and nowhere, whispered past Renamon's perception, barely registering.

"Who's there?"

"Surely you remember me... I made your body my own once upon a dark time..."

"It's impossible. I destroyed you. I remember crushing your depressed body and watching you dissolve into nothingness. I've purged my life of you."

"Not so. I remained. The infection was farther-reaching than you thought. Some bits of my data managed to survive within your body, weak and disorganized for so long. It is ironic that your waning strength seems to be bringing me to the front. As you lose hope and happiness I grow, and become strong. But it is useless..."

"Stop that. It was bad enough being your prisoner and hearing your endless diatribes about how dark, depressing and bleak the world is. You are an aberration that does not belong in my body. I am happy..."

"You WERE happy! But you aren't anymore, are you? No, now you're losing your hope, stuck in this tube and forced to endure barbaric tortures to give a madman the means to kill all Digimon. Everything is failing and falling apart. And there's nothing you can do about it. Well, there is one thing you could do."

"Don't be stupid. There is nothing I can do yet. I just have to wait for Yamaki to make a mistake. Then I can escape and crush him."

"Not so, not so. You see, I may grow strong, but I am powerless to do anything. I am the prisoner now, and though I move I cannot affect a thing. I will die with you, unless we can escape. I can become a part of you again, but you will have the control. Then we both will live. I propose a simple symbiosis."

"Do you think I'm an idiot? I'm not going to make a deal with the Devil. If you think I look like Faust then you need your eyes checked."

"Fine then. Let Yamaki kill you. Then you'll never see Rika again." Angstmon's voice silenced itself, somewhere within but totally undetectable.

"Rika... I can't let Angstmon have my body again, but I can't let Rika be turned into a zombie for her mother. There's a third path, I know it. If I could only figure out what it is."

"All patients please report to the main hall at once. All patients please report to the main hall at once." The announcement blared over the loudspeaker over and over again. All throughout the facility doors swung open and released their captives into the waiting hands of guards, who quick-marched them all into the large main hall. Like most of the facility it was quite utilitarian, big and gray with smooth walls, tiny barred windows, and no chairs. All the patients of the facility were lined up, row upon row of gray-clad children, from ten to seventeen, each one looking, in their own way, scared. Except for Rika, who had the misfortune of being stuck front-row center. From the floor in front of them a stone stage slowly rose, bare and plain. Onto that stage stepped the director of the facility, a scowling, impatient looking man with sharp, angular features and a suit that looked like it had been pressed to death.

He wore a small microphone on his lapel and stared straight out over the assembled group. "As I look out over all of you, I am stricken with the same thought that I always am. You disgust me! You creatures make me sick to my stomach! You don't deserve to be called human beings. You're some sort of diseased aberration that has crawled out of the slime and attempted to infect the world." Most everyone in the audience cringed with fear. Those who had been there longest and were yet unreleased had a blank, hollow look, as though they'd heard it all before, or maybe they just weren't there anymore.

Rika did not react. She blocked him out with everything she could manage, from old strategies used in Digimon Card Game championships to the things she wanted to do with Renamon when she finally got out. A bath would be first, a nice, long bath. Soaking for hours in the warm, soothing water might wash away the memories of the place, especially with Renamon softly caressing her skin with a small towel. Rika began to close her eyes, so caught up in the idea that she was drifting from her nightmarish reality.

"You!" Her inattentiveness had not gone unnoticed. The director was pointing directly at her and scowling more than usual. "How dare you ignore me! You piece of dirt! What could you be thinking of that's more important than I am?" All eyes turned to Rika as she extracted herself from her imagining to stare defiantly at the facility director.

"I'm thinking of what you can't take away from me." Rika stood her ground, defying the man with her posture. "What I am is not yours for the stealing, and all your words are nothing but hot air."

The director grew nearly purple with rage, clenching his fists at the brashness displayed before him. "Security! Take this girl back to her room! Just for that, no dinner, and no breakfast in the morning. We'll see how a little starvation affects your attitude. What is your name, insect?"

Rika remained ramrod straight, even as guards came up on either side of her. "Rika Nonaka, the Digimon Queen."

"Take her away!" The director waved his hand and then returned his attention to the general assembly, continuing his angry and accusatory speech. Rika was unceremoniously led back to her room and tossed in, the door securely locked behind her. Rika flopped down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"At least I don't have to listen to that idiot..." But she was wrong, because a speaker in her room started blaring the hate-filled speech of the facility director. Rika never noticed, though, for she was already off in her own world, and was fully free to do so.

"Still around, Renamon? I'm impressed. Then again, I saw you hold fast to life when I had infected you and tried to destroy every little piece of you. Looks like we both get another day of life. But it's getting rather hard to hold on, isn't it?" Angstmon had masterful command of every means of demoralizing and darkening attitudes. And she never shut up unless she felt the silence would further her plans. The perfect Machiavellian thinker who never went away, living in Renamon's head.

"I'll hold on as long as I can. Yamaki is drawing it out on purpose, and enjoying every minute of it. But I won't let him win. I can get out of this. Rika is counting on me..." Renamon attempted to move her sore limbs, muscles screaming in agony with every shift. She'd been inactive too long, tested too often. Even with a perfect opportunity she'd have very little chance of escaping and actually making it.

"Just give it up and accept my offer. I'm still strong and fresh. We could bust out of here, and you'd still have control."

"What's in in for you, dark one?"

"Vitality, mobility. A life. Just let me exist as part of you and you will have the power to escape. And you can change forms to me, and have access to my viral powers."

"Why would I need your vile powers?"

"Because sometimes things are too tough to muscle through. But sucking away energy never fails. What do you say?"

Renamon thought about it, feeling the strengthening spectre of Angstmon within her, awaiting a decision.

"This, you miserable maggots, is aversion therapy." The woman at the head of the room was slender to the point of unhealthiness, with a pinched face and cold eyes. She looked like a female guard at a concentration camp who would kick over buckets of water before anyone could drink. "What that means is that you will be trained to avoid certain improper things, like the animals you are."

"Just get on with it, Pavlov." Rika said in a bored tone, barely able to keep it up anymore.

The woman scowled and nodded to her assistants, who went around distributing a booklet to everyone. After that they did that they went back around to each person, holding two bottles. Each person had one assistant standing with them, the people quiet and attentive, looking like an experiment in behaviorism themselves. "Now, everyone please open your booklets to page one."

Everyone did as they were bidden, except for Rika. The assistant standing beside her had to open her book for her. On that page there was a drawing of a human female couple kissing. With a nod from the woman the assistants opened one bottle and waved it under the nose of the one they were responsible. It was a pungent solution, that made many of the people gag. Rika just took the situation apart in her head. Visceral aversion to certain stimuli. Break it up more... "They're only humans..." Rika thought. "I don't want a human partner. I have Renamon." With a smile that she tried to hide, Rika inhaled the pungent scent deeply, not caring if she gained an aversion to humans.

"Good, good. Now, open your books to page two. And no one try to get out of this. I assure you that you will be here for a long while."

The next picture showed what was supposed to be the ideal of normalcy, a human male/female couple embracing. The other bottle was brought in for this one. That one contained a very sweet-smelling perfume. Rika took a sniff and scowled. It smelled like her mother. Then she smiled again. She hated her mother's overly girly things, and especially the bottles of noxious perfume. She could see herself feeling nothing positive towards that scent. So she leaned forward, fixed her eyes on the picture and inhaled deeply of the sickly-sweet scent...

Yamaki entered the room he'd been keeping Renamon in with a bounce in his step. The tests he'd been running had all come up inconclusive, however he had succeeded in weakening her and making her life agony. Now it was time to delete her. "That'll teach her to become involved with a human..." However, when he arrived at the tube he found that Renamon had changed a little. She was still hanging down, head down and body limp, but now her face was pure pasty white, with dark circles beneath her eyes. "Hey! What's going on here? How did you do that?"

The figure in the tube slowly lifted up her head, a creepy smile on her death-like face. "It's all a matter of getting back in touch with a distant part..."

"This is not at all amusing you miserable Renamon!"

The smile twisted upwards into a psychotic grin. "Renamon's not here right now. Please leave all screams of agony with Angstmon!" Angstmon brought her arms down to her sides, snapping the chains that held them up. Then she started to punch at the tube itself, not having enough room to get a good swing.

"So you've got a new little trick. It won't help you at all. You can't get enough of a swing to crack that tube. So kiss your data goodbye!" Yamaki moved over to a console and started to tap a few keys.

"Not so fast!" Angstmon curled herself up a little bit and started concentrating. "Viral Digivolution! Angstmon Viral Digivolve to... Gothicmon!" The tube shattered with the power of the Viral Digivolution, sending shards all over the room like shrapnel. Gothicmon looked a little bit like Kyubimon, being a large fox with nine flaming tails and flaming fur above her paws. However, the resemblance was only in that respect. The fire that burned on her was pure black, as was most of her body. Her underbelly was a blood red color. A grinning skull with red eyes replaced the Yin-Yang on her forehead. Instead of the red and white striped ropes that hung around the neck of Kyubimon, Gothicmon had steel chains and black leather wrapped around each other into a very strange kind of rope. Instead of paper streamers around her neck, Gothicmon sported spider webs. Lastly, when she opened her mouth to snarl, she revealed a pair of long fangs.

"What in the..?" Yamaki started hitting buttons faster, starting the machine the tube had once enclosed.

"I think not. Soul chains!" The leather and steel braids shot out at the consoles, puncturing and ripping them up, and then beating them into scrap. Yamaki leaped away from the destruction, growling at Gothicmon.

"Damn you! Just wait until security gets here!" Yamaki started running out of the room, shouting for help.

"Not so fast. Atrophy!" Gothicmon fired a ray at Yamaki from the skull on her forehead, covering him with a black mist. When the mist cleared Yamaki fell to the ground, unable to move his extremities.

"What is this? Let me up!"

Gothicmon padded up beside Yamaki's prone form, shaking her head. "The muscles of your arms and legs have been moderately atrophied. You'll need some physical therapy and a little medication but you'll live. I decided to give you a break. For now." Gothicmon brought a foreleg back and gave Yamaki a kick in the side. It wasn't very strong, but it did make him roll over a few times and run into a wall. Gothicmon reverted to Angstmon, who shifted her body back into Renamon's. Renamon gave Yamaki a contemptuous look before she vanished from the room.

"Pay attention everyone. In this exercise you will learn to accept the attentions of the opposite sex. Just relax and everything will be fine." The guy at the head of this class looked more normal than anyone else. A very fatherly figure with expressive eyes and a ready smile. A viper just waiting to strike. Rika thought he belonged in front of an apartment building with a heavy coat, waiting to flash unsuspecting strangers. The group of patients in the room consisted of only females, most looking scared or angry. Rika had her arms crossed over her chest and was glaring at the males in the room, people who worked for the facility. "Now, all of you just stand normally and wait for someone to come up to you."

"Pervert. He must be loving this..." Rika thought as an older boy walked confidently over to her.

"Don't worry about it. I'll teach you to love this. You just haven't been touched by a real man." The boy moved around behind her, so aggravatingly smug. His hands slowly came up around her body, lightly placing themselves on her chest.

Rika learned a few things from Renamon beyond how to love. "Hands off, loser-boy!" Rika dropped to a squat and kicked out at the boy's knee, hopping back to her feet so that she could leap up and land an elbow smash onto the boy's chest. Then she just started to pummel his face with sharp blows, her face a mask of pure hate. "Never NEVER touch me like that you stupid boy!" Rika pounded away on the boy, fists striking every part of his face and head, before security finally took her away. Even after she was pulled off she continued to rage. "Let me go! I'll teach him a lesson he'll never forget!" They boy was motionless and bloody, most likely with a concussion and a broken nose.

She was dragged before the facility director, her anger still hot within her. "So, you decided to get an attitude, hmm? Haven't learned your lesson yet?"

"I'm not here to learn anything. I'm only here because my mother is a hateful person."

"We shall see what you learn and do not learn. Take her to solitary..."

"Mikino how can you be so calm about what you've done?" Grandma hounded her daughter, never letting up. She couldn't. She just might get lucky and change Mikino's mind.

"I keep telling you, I did it for Rika's own good. Just wait until she comes back, she'll be a normal girl. No more Digimon, no more jeans. She'll wear dresses and have long hair. She'll become a model, just like me."

"She's not you! She is your daughter! You're treating her like a toy. And Renamon, the best thing that ever happened to her, you sent her away to some sadistic lab where she'll be killed."

"Not quite killed, but close." Renamon phased herself into the room, causing Grandma to smile and Mikino to look sick.

"Renamon! You escaped! Wonderful. It's been so long I thought..."

"Yamaki was torturing me and running tests over and over again, causing me pain simply because of my involvement with Rika."

Grandma glared at Mikino. "This is all your doing!"

"Please, you must tell me where Rika is. I have to get to her before she is changed too much."

"Mikino this has gone far enough. Tell Renamon where to find Rika this minute."

Mikino slumped down into a chair, looking deflated and defeated. "I just wanted..."

"It's always about you! You're so egotistical it's hard to believe you're my daughter. Now tell her."

"Ok, I'll tell you..."

Rika was taken to a building behind all the others. She was led down the single corridor within, past identical doors to the final doors. One guard unlocked the one on the right and the other shoved Rika inside after it was open. The door slammed shut with a loud bang, leaving Rika in darkness, except for a tiny shaft of light from a high, small window. It was barely enough to see her hands by. Rika slumped down against the wall of the room. She'd been condemned to a week in solitary on half rations of food.

"Soul chain!" A commotion from outside brought Rika's attention to full alert. Screams and crashes told her something was going on outside, and it was big. "Soul chain!" A pair of chains crashed through the wall, wrapped with leather strips. The wall fell apart, revealing Gothicmon to her. Of course, not knowing what she was Rika could only scream. Gothicmon reverted to Angstmon and then quickly back to Renamon.

"Heartbreaker. It's me..."

"Renamon?"

"The one and only."

Rika ran forward to embrace Renamon, squeezing the fox Digimon tight. "I never thought I'd see you again..."

"And I never thought I'd see you again. While I was at Hypnos the only thing I could think of was you."

"But what was that thing crashing around?"

"While I was held captive... Angstmon resurfaced. Her data had been in me the entire time, disorganized and weak. But as I waned she grew strong. Without a body, though, she was nothing. We ended up making... a deal. She would become a part of me again, but I would be in control. With her strength we escaped Hypnos and then I asked your mother were you were. That form that you saw me in was Gothicmon. Scary, but powerful."

"Amazing... And you're totally in control?"

"Completely and utterly in ch... Ah!" Renamon doubled over, grabbing at her belly and trembling. Her face came up again, but it wasn't Renamon. It was a straining Angstmon.

"So far that is... But soon you won't be!" Angstmon remained for a moment before fading back into Renamon.

"It was a deal with the Devil..." Renamon whispered. "And I should have remembered that the Devil always wins..."

"... And that's the whole story." Later on that same day Rika was back at her home, watching over Renamon as she rested and fought the demonic grasp of Angstmon. She knew that she'd need a lot of help, and even though it galled her more than anything else to ask for someone's help, she couldn't let Renamon go without a fight. So she called over the other three tamers, Takato, Henry and Jeri. They came right over and brought their Digimon with them.

"So what you're saying is that the viral infection not only remained but also is making a takeover bid again?" Henry caught onto things very quickly.

"That's right. This time Renamon is in charge, but Angstmon isn't contained. She just infecting every part of her that she can."

"If that's the case then it seems there is no solution." Leomon wasn't big on ideas, though in this instance his words rang sadly true.

"There must be some solution. I know if Gillmon were in the same situation I'd do something for him."

"It seems hopeless. Every minute that goes by makes Angstmon a little stronger."

"Well, there's gotta be something. Renamon wouldn't just curl up and die." Terriermon, though lacking in tact, did know what he was talking about.

"Maybe you could just pull them both apart. I mean, Renamon is one Digimon, and Angstmon is another, right?" Jeri hugged herself against Leomon's arm, for comfort, and other things.

"That might have worked before, maybe. Angstmon was just a virus with a form based on what she infected. The only reason she looks like Renamon is that that's who she infected. Right now she's a symbiotic virus, providing Renamon with strength and recovery ability, while Renamon gives her vitality and mobility. It'd be a little more than hard to break the two apart now. You'd have to filter Angstmon's data out of Renamon."

"Great, let's go down to the store and buy a couple dozen coffee filters." Takato suggested, hopping to his feet.

"He didn't mean it like that, goggle-head. We'd need a computer program that could do it for us. But what has that kind of ability?"

"A firewall..." Henry whispered, looking off into the distance.

Everyone looked at him strangely. "A what?"

"A firewall, a computer program that stops unwanted entry into your system by blocking out signals you haven't authorized. Since Renamon's data is probably very different from Angstmon's data then running through a firewall set to only allow her data through might be able to purge Renamon of Angstmon, and leave Angstmon as a useless lump of lifeless ones and zeros."

"One problem, how do we find a place that has the ability to bring up a firewall like that, and how will we program it with Renamon's data?" Takato asked, catching on rather swiftly this time.

"I can solve one problem. Renamon gave me a lock of her tail fur when we first started getting serious, way before Angstmon came into the picture. That could be scanned and used to provide Renamon's data."

"But there's still the matter of constructing and executing the firewall, to say nothing of digitizing Renamon, and then bringing her back once the process is done."

"I ha-have the answer to all that... uhhh..." Renamon slowly slid open the door from Rika's room and fell out, cringing and shivering as she fought to keep Angstmon down.

"Renamon! You should stay in bed, you need to rest and keep Angstmon at bay."

"I can't d-do that while you're out here t-trying to save me. I kn-know a place you could do all that. Hypnos."

"Hypnos? You mean that place you were taken to?" Rika held Renamon tightly and wondered just what she was planning.

"Yes. I saw a lot while I was escaping. They have massive computer systems, and lots of equipment for analyzing Digimon. I'm certain that could help."

"That place is like a Fortress. Just getting inside would be like an invasion. And then setting it all up. It seems very risky." Leomon added, holding Jeri just a little bit tighter.

"I really don't think we have any choice. It's that or..." Henry trailed off, watching Renamon writhe while Rika held her softly.

"What's the big deal anyway? So Angstmon's depressing. That's not so bad. I mean, it's not like she's gruesome or something." Takato got a stone lobbed just past his head, forcing him to take cover being Gillmon.

"Angstmon is worse than gruesome! Her depression is total and pervasive! She has no happy thoughts and only takes joy in spreading her darkness. The happier someone is the harder she tries to destroy that. If she can break a heart or darken a day she is satisfied. She wants to blanket the world with depression." Rika stood, huffing and determined, glaring at the others with a hard, cold gaze.

"Please... we must hu-hurr-ry. She is... AHH!" Renamon tensed up and curled up on the ground, shivering as though being blown upon by an icy wind. Her face rapidly shifted from her own frightened visage, to the maniacal grin of Angstmon and then back again, several times."

"I'm coming to get you, Rika! You're all I need to destroy in order to get this body back!" Angstmon spoke the last time her face appeared, baring every glittering tooth in her mouth.

"We have no time to lose. We have to get her into Hypnos. We'll think of something from there."

"Leomon, pick her up and carry her. She doesn't look able to walk." Jeri disentangled herself from Leomon's arm and settled for snuggling up to him once he had slung Renamon over his shoulder.

"Alright guys..." Takato said with a flourish, while flipping down his goggles. "Let's go do this!"

"Beast sword!"

"Pyro sphere!"

"Terrier tornado!"

When the four tamers arrived at Hypnos, they did not receive a warm welcome. Yamaki was still recovering from Gothicmon's blast of Atrophy, but he had managed to put the entire place on high alert. When the guards saw the four approaching they opened fire. With rubber bullets, of course. No need for a murder rap. Unfortunately, Leomon ploughed right through and busted through the doors, all while still carrying Renamon. The others ran through in his wake and found themselves surrounded by automated security. That led to wholesale destruction, leaving the four tamers in the center, holding onto Renamon.

"Where to now?" Takato looked around fearfully as more security robots rolled into the lobby.

"We have to get into that elevator! From there Renamon said we could reach the labs on the thirty-seventh floor!" Rika pointed to an elevator slightly to the right of where they were.

"Leomon! Clear us a path to that elevator!" Jeri waved to get Leomon's attention, and then pointed out exactly where she wanted him to clear a space.

"This might help a little." Takato swiped a card through his Digivice. "Digi-modify! Power activate!"

"Pyro sphere!" Gillmon blew an extra-large blast at some arriving security bots, blasting them into the ones behind them. Leomon took care of the ones in the way while the tamers carried Renamon into the elevator. The other three Digimon fell back into the elevator while Rika hit the button for the thirty-seventh floor.

"Ok, now the entire building knows were here. What now?" Terriermon looked down from atop Henry's head, holding on tight with his ears.

"We can barricade ourselves in a lab. Renamon told me all the labs can be sealed in case something goes wrong inside, or the entire place is put on lockdown. Yamaki has a nasty habit of spilling information when he gloats."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Takato stood by the door, watching the numbers move in case someone stopped the elevator.

"Leomon, you'll help keep the door shut, won't you?" Jeri didn't use a command for her partner. Rather she just looked at him cutely and smiled while holding onto one of his large hands.

Leomon blushed horribly over most of his face. "Err... Of course I will, Jeri. You can always count on me."

"I-isn't it cute when couples flirt, Heartbreaker?" Renamon was smiling, though the look was strained. "It reminds me of when we were still hiding our feelings..."

"Don't try to talk. Just relax. We'll be there soon."

Leomon, for his part, just blushed deeper and tried to look as though it wasn't true. Jeri, on the other hand just smiled brighter and held on tighter.

Finally the elevator stopped at floor thirty-seven and opened its doors. The Tamers expected a huge welcome, but found that the entire place seemed empty.

"They must have sent all security down to deal with us, and all the scientists to a safe location. That'll make our jobs easier." Henry said while making a break for the nearest lab.

"Wait! We need to make sure wherever we choose has the right equipment, or we'll never help Renamon."

"Right... This one looks about right. It looks like a lot of big scanning platforms and some huge consoles. If this isn't it then I don't know what else we can do." Everyone ran inside, Leomon pressing the button to bring down the doors. Then he started sealing them with every piece of furniture he could find.

"I don't know why I thought I could do this. This is just a little bit more complex than a home computer you know." Henry was quickly eyeing all the buttons and wires and whatnot in the room, trying to use logic to figure out what did what. "Ok, I think that Renamon should get into that tube, looks like everything is centered around it. From there... well, you'll just have to give me a bit on that..."

Rika helped Renamon onto the base of the containment unit and remained close to her when Henry lowered the glass, making Renamon remember the confinement of not so long ago.

"Ok, now I think that it's this button..." Henry pressed a large blue button. Renamon started to scream in agony and pound on the glass. Henry pressed the button again and looked horribly embarrassed. "Oh my... That was the wrong one."

"You can't save her you bumbling, inept little chi... ARGH!" Angstmon surfaced amid Renamon's suffering, but was quickly zapped by Henry. She went back within and left Renamon on the surface. "Rika, come over here and press this button if Angstmon tries to surface again. I've gotta look at the rest of these buttons." Rika went over, a critical eye resting on Renamon, while Henry mused and made noises of thought over the consoles. "It looks like an all-purpose machine that can do anything from sending Digimon back to the Digital world to torturing them. And thankfully for us it's labeled over here, probably for some new technicians." Henry messed around with the controls until he managed to get an image on a screen. "I think that I can do this all form here... Let's see, run firewall security program. Ok, the baseline firewall has been executed. Rika, give me that fur Renamon gave you. It looks like there's a small data analyzer over here." Rika handed Henry the fur and then went back to the button she had been placed at. Not usually so obedient, special circumstances called for special actions.

Henry laid the fur on the small glass 'eye' set into the console and started typing things rapidly and watching the screen. "Calibrating firewall... Confirming firewall calibration... Done!" Henry started searching around for the button to activate the large data transference machine, eyes glossing over rows and rows of buttons. "Renamon, be careful in there. In the purity of the data stream Angstmon will probably grow stronger than ever." Henry tapped a few buttons and was rewarded with a positive beep. The machine began to power itself up, and Renamon's for became hazier and more indistinct. Rika ran over to her and placed a hand against the glass. Renamon placed her hand against the inside of the glass and smiled at Rika before she faded away entirely.

"Sir? I've got a very strange reading here. It looks like someone inside the facility has just sent something into the data stream. The transmission appears to have come from lab C on floor thirty-seven. I'm also reading a specially calibrated firewall near where the thing was transmitted."

Yamaki stood off to the side, supported by two subordinates. An IV bottle dripped slowly into a tube feeding into his arm. "Send out the Yuggoth. It's time those children learned that we are ultimately in control."

Renamon stood up slowly when she found herself in the data stream. Not too far away from her was the firewall, looking like a real wall of flame blazing brightly. Through that fire lay her future, a future without the darkness of Angstmon. "Time to take out the darkness..." She whispered and started to run for the wall.

"No! I won't be destroyed! I have so much darkness to spread!" Angstmon snapped into control and stopped so fast she tripped and rolled closer to the wall. When she managed to get up and look away, she saw the Yuggoth program spinning in the distance, but getting closer. "As my last official act in charge, I will steal you away from Rika forever." she smiled a maniac smile and set herself up for a charge.

"You're insane! You'll be deleted too!" Renamon forced her way back into control and started to backpedal towards the firewall. Angstmon tried to resurface again, but her struggles only managed to change half of Renamon's face, leaving control split between them.

"I don't care! It will be my ultimate act of depression! Imagine, Rika will watch you die from a distance! If I must go, then I'll take all the light that I can with me!"

Renamon strained to move towards the firewall, grabbing the ground with one hand and dragging forward, using the leg she was in control of to help her along. "You're utterly mad. I will never let you steal my Heartbreaker's happiness. I will fight as long as I am able."

"It's too late! I've won!"

"It's never too late..." Renamon whispered, concentrating her mind on Rika. Not on maintaining control, but on why she fought so hard. Angstmon managed to regain total control, but she had hardly the time to smile before Renamon softly took charge. No snaps, no struggles. It was her body, and concentrating on what made it strong gave her command of it. "You want to die, fine. Be suicidal. But don't take me with you." Renamon dashed right at the firewall and took a great leap at it, closing her eyes as she started to feel the heat of the flames.

"NOOO!" Angstmon wrestled control away from Renamon a split second before slamming into the wall. Her data was violently separated from Renamon's, torn away by the specific calibration of the firewall. Even though she had started to twist herself around Renamon's data, there was no mistaking where Renamon ended and Angstmon began. She remained trapped in the firewall, just a head, shoulders, arms and most of a chest, all that she managed to form within Renamon.

Renamon landed deftly once through the firewall and dashed very quickly away. She would have to Bio-emerge somewhere close to Rika's home, but that wouldn't be any problem. She looked back at Angstmon trapped by the firewall, watched the wall vanish, probably Henry's doing. The helplessly incomplete Angstmon flopped to the ground and screamed as the Yuggoth program deleted her without mercy.

"Sir, I have confirmed deletion of something. When the target hit the firewall it split into two. The stronger signal has escaped and is ready to Bio-emerge, but the Yuggoth has destroyed the second signal."

Yamaki scowled and shook his head. "Some victory. I get the feeling that I just did exactly what those blasted children wanted me to."

After the destruction of Angstmon everything went just perfectly. Rika retrieved the tuft of Renamon's fur and Henry erased all the data of what they had just done. With Gillmon and Leomon leading the way the tamers and Terriermon made their way down using the stairwell, slow and tiresome, but least guarded. Once outside of Hypnos they all made a break for Rika's home, constantly looking back, expecting to see throngs of security after them.

The fears were unfounded, and nothing came after them the entire trip to the house. Rika thanked everyone for the help, an unusual thing to do for her, but it was a very unusual situation.

"Rika!" Grandma ran over to Rika and gave her a hug. She had been out when Rika and Renamon had returned, and was still out when plans to infiltrate Hypnos were being made. "I can't believe it! You're back. I knew Renamon would save you. Where is she?"

"It's a long story, but she's somewhere out there in the data stream. I think she should tell you, as soon as she gets back."

Grandma and Rika set about making a little something so that Renamon wouldn't have to Bio-emerge and not get anything. As they were sharing a pot of tea a thick fog surrounded the house. Neither one was very surprised. When Renamon appeared in the room they both smiled at her, Rika holding out a cup and Grandma holding up the teapot.

"Perfect timing, Renamon. You're just in time for tea."

"Have a seat and tell grandma all about what happened."

Renamon smiled brightly, sitting down at the small table and accepting the cup and tea. "Well, it all started the night I was taken away..."

~Owari~


End file.
